Famicom Controller Problem

Hi, I'm having a very hard time getting my Famicom controller to work. I've been messing with it for about 3 days and after my last attempt I am completely lost. So, I was hoping someone at the all mighty ASSEMbler forums might be able to help. This may sound like a simple problem at first, but if you read to the end of my story it may not sound like I'm a complete moron. The first paragraph below this can be skipped if my post is a little too lengthy.

December 31 I get a package from Japan on my front porch. I open it up, clean it up, and start playing some games. But I notice there's a problem with the controller. If my finger bumps the wire up where it comes out of the controller it starts pressing start and left on the D-Pad and some other stuff. Big deal, I'll leave it be for now. But I did take apart the controller to clean it. And when I put it back together I got absolutely no input at all. So, I thought I just made the problem worse when I laid the wire back in. So I stripped the jacket off, found the problem, tested the cable, soldered everything together and... nothing. No input at all. At least as far as I can tell since every game requires you to press start or select first.

What happened? So I start testing the wire more, and my solder joints and even onto the board of the Famicom and everything appears connected. But still no input. So I grab an old NES controller, and wire it up to my Famicom. No input. Okay, I tested the resistors next to the Controller I plug. They're all well within tolerance.

Tonight (Jan 3) I broke down and desoldered the 40H368 chip from my NES and used it to replace the one on my Famicom. I turn the console on and press a button on the controller and... still nothing. What could possibly be wrong at this point? There's been no damage to the PCB. I'll admit some controller wires might've been shorted together in my testing, but other than that I'm entirely clueless.

So I am desperate for any help that can be provided. The following link is a Google Photos album with pictures of the Famicom board and such. https://goo.gl/photos/D9TzxkjFKeaJZrBr6
If you'd like to see a picture of anything specific or something, just request and I'll update the album.

Thank you to anyone who might be able to help, or has even read through to the end of my post.

 

did you unplug the second controller and test?
check the traces on the fami main board for continuity
Check for shorts to ground on both controller headers on the mainboard

Tack a working NES controller onto the DB15 port and test



CHECK VCC, pin 5 iirc on the Famicom's internal controller ports

Is MC74HC368A getting 2~6V on pin 16?

Whats the output on the 7805? Is it stable?

 

Well. Thanks for your help. It sounded promising, but just a few minutes ago one of my friends barged into my house rummaging around for something. Moved my Famicom, which was still plugged up, and shorted the digital board to the power board. If it wasn't hopeless before, it's sure looking that way now.